North state Muslims, Sikhs express concern after terror attacks in Boston

Shasta County religious leaders Abu Bakr Salahuddin, the imam at the Redding Islamic Center, and Sikh Head Priest Amarjit Singh spoke out against violence Saturday following the Boston Marathon bombing and the suspects’ identification as Muslims. Pictured is the Sikh Centre in Anderson.

Fearing retaliation, two Shasta County religious leaders spoke out against violence Saturday following the Boston Marathon bombing and the suspects' identification as Muslims.

"I had my fingers crossed they weren't associated with Islam in any way, but as it turned out they were," said Abu Bakr Salahuddin, the imam at the Redding Islamic Center. "Islam doesn't teach the taking of innocent lives. ... That's not Islam."

Salahuddin was joined by Sikh Head Priest Amarjit Singh at the Sikh Centre in Anderson on Saturday, six days after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, allegedly detonated two bombs at the Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding more than 180.

The brothers then allegedly wrought havoc in Boston, killing one police officer and wounding another during a chase. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed in a firefight with police while Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured Friday. Their uncle said they were Muslims.

In response, Salahuddin and Singh came together to preach nonviolence and, in Singh's case, remind residents that Sikhism and Islam are separate faiths.

Singh said after Americans saw pictures of Osama bin Laden with a long beard and a turban, they considered anyone with those features a Muslim.

However, he said American Muslims don't typically wear turbans — but Sikhs, do and they are forbidden from shaving their beards.

That misconception has led to attacks before in Shasta County, he said. In 2007, a man high on drugs stole a tractor and demolished part of the Sikh Centre because, the vandal said, it was occupied by foreigners who didn't believe in Jesus.

Salahuddin said years of abuse under "colonialism, imperialism, capitalism" in many Islamic countries has allowed the religion to be twisted.

He said extremists have warped jihad, which refers chiefly to an internal struggle to overcome temptation, into a physical struggle. Jihad's use in a physical sense means only actions taken in self-defense, he said.

"The term radical, or extremist, or radical anything is not Islamic," Salahuddin said.

The Tsarnaev brothers weren't following the tenets of Islam, he said.

Salahuddin said education remains the best tool to uproot stereotypes and misconceptions, saying the focus needs to shift to the many Muslims who condemn terrorism.

He said the Muslims at the Islamic Center of Redding have expressed concern about retaliation following the terror attacks in Boston.